Paul Trejo

It's no accident that General Edwin Walker, after he resigned from 30 years of US Army service, attempted to get into politics on the side of the extreme right-wing. When Edwin Walker was a boy, Woodrow Wilson was the Democrat in the White House, and Wilson was an outspoken advocate of all-white Universities. One can make a case that Wilson was nominated by the Democrats because he successfully kept Princeton University all-white when he was President of that University. In the early days of the 20th century, the Democratic Party was against the Party and Politics of Abraham Lincoln. They dominated the South, and they were friendly with the KKK and the Jim Crow Laws. That's the real history of the Democratic Party before FDR, Harry Truman and JFK. When the USA emerged on top of the world at the end of World War Two, the Democratic Party had been transformed by FDR. It was suddenly international in scope, and promoted Social Welfare programs. It was a radical change. The reaction to this new liberalism after World War Two was just as radical; it emerged in the politics of Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Council. After McCarthy died, the mantle was passed to Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. Their concern was the Brown Decision -- President Eisenhower's and Earl Warren's mandate to racially integrate US public schools. In this effort they revived the KKK and the White Citizen's Councils of the South with a new doctrine -- Civil Rights is Communism. In this way, the US fear of uprising Black Americans was given a voice, and the voice was loud. It was on the basis of the politics of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson that former General Edwin Walker could claim that his riots at Ole Miss in September 1962 were part of a conservative effort to keep US Universities all-white. The voice of MLK was not as loud, but it was far more eloquent. He called for a Christianity that did not exclude people based on race. The extreme right-wing in the USA had collapsed into the opposite position as they called for a Christianity that did exclude people based on race. This turned the moral tide. The majority of Americans began to sympathize with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When JFK turned toward MLK in his 8 June 1963 speech, the radical right-wing in America was galvanized against the tide of history. That very night Medgar Evers (NAACP organizer) was shot dead in his own driveway in Mississippi. On 8 September 1963, the radical right wing acted again and bombed an African-American Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young girls inside. On 24 October 1963, the radical right-wing acted again in Dallas, Texas, preventing Adlai Stevenson from presenting his speech extolling the UN. He was beaten with a placard and spit upon in the streets. Dallas newspapers knew that former General Edwin Walker had organized the booby-trapping of the building the night before. So, when JFK rode through Dallas on 22 November 1963 for the last ride of his life, it was not a major surprise to those who followed US right-wing politics that he would not be allowed to escape alive. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

BUMP

It's an interesting question, Mark, I agree -- that Gerry Patrick Hemming's rifle was found near the JFK murder site, and in the FBI's possession the same day -- and that the earliest DPD reports of a suspect matched Celio Castro more than they matched Lee Harvey Oswald. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Tommy, I knew William Seymour had an alibi for the Silvia Odio incident -- however, I was referring to a time AFTER the Silvia Odio incident, which I date at 9/25/1963. Besides, I was only using William Seymour in there as a place holder. We have lots of pictures of Loran Hall with William Seymour, and William Seymour was the first person to pop into Loran Hall's cabeza, so it seemed fitting at the time. The fact is, there were many mercenary guys hanging around Loran Hall during those days -- so it could have been any one of them. In my speed-typing, I was only using 'William Seymour' as a stand-in for 'the third guy.' Now -- maybe I should be exploring these other persons in the life of Loran Hall -- especially if he's a suspect in the JFK murder. But I'm not there yet. I'm still exploring the personnel inside the Warren Commission volumes (and related FBI memos). The data about Celio Castro ("Quarito") is interesting because Larry Howard raised that data -- but Celio was only one of many mercenary buddies in this group related to Interpen and Gerry Patrick Hemming. It could have been any of them. (By the way, I thought Loran Hall redeemed Hemming's 30.06 from Dick Hathcock in early November, not September. The time they slept at the YMCA in Dallas, however, was in October as you noted when they got arrested there for amphetemine possession.) Now, you believe that Loran Hall, Larry Howard and Celio Castro stayed at the Lawnview Motel in Dallas from 9/28/63 through 10/3/63. I think there is good evidence for that. I also agree that it's interesting to ask where they stayed before that. Larry Howard said they stayed at a motel for about ten days, starting on around September 20th, so what about this time gap? First we know they didn't stay at Silvia Odio's -- she would not let them inside her front door. They were at her doorstep for 20 minutes. She insists that Lee Harvey Oswald was with them -- and the FBI and Gaeton Fonzi found her believable after hours of interviews. That would have been on 25 Sep 1963. You ask if there was time to drive to Mexico City and back in that time? Yes, if they used amphetemines and Larry Howard shared the driving task. It's 20 hours to Mexico City from Dallas. We know Oswald already had a Visa to Mexico. So, yes, if they started driving at 9PM after leaving the doorstep of Silvia Odio, stopping only for gas and food, they could have arrived at Mexico City by 6pm on 26 Sep 1963. They would then (according to Harry Dean) introduce Lee Harvey Oswald to Guy Gabaldon, and then return to Dallas by 3 AM on 27 Sep 1963, again, stopping only for food and gas. In Harry Dean's scenario (with which I'm working) Hall and Howard were only delivery boys. Gabaldon was the brains of the outfit -- and also had the cash. Why did they need to return to Dallas so quickly? Because that was their JOB, as I see it. Remember that Loran Hall could never hold down a regular job. He was a playboy at heart, but had no money. Like a young truck driver, he met his many girl friends on the road. He did like the thrill of military combat (as he fought alongside Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra when Gerry Patrick Hemming also fought alongside them) but he was hot-headed and didn't like to be a follower. He wanted to lead his own movement -- which is why Fidel Castro put him in jail -- and also why Gerry Patrick Hemming came to distrust him. So, to make a living, Loran Hall went around to various John Birch Society meetings, coast to coast, making his "Cuba Betrayed" speech (which can be found on YouTube today) and collecting funds and supplies to bring to Interpen and other Cuba Raid paramilitary groups. He was so valuable at collecting funds and supplies in this way (because he was a decent public speaker in English) that the Cuban Exile community obliged him to accept that role as a full time JOB. In short, Loran Hall had been reduced to a gun-runner for the Counter-Revolution. He took orders from Guy Gabaldon, a major figure in the John Birch Society in Southern California, and a famous war-hero of WW2. Through Guy Gabaldon Loran met Larry Howard, an Army veteran who would have done literally anything for Guy Gabaldon. Guy told Larry Howard to help Loran Hall in the Cuba raids (as I read it) and that is why Howard followed Hall so often. Harry Dean helped to load that trailer (as I read it) and all their trailers of supplies. The Los Angeles JBS was a major source of supplies and cash for Cuban raids. This was how Loran Hall made his living. As evidence, I point to the 1968 National Enquirer interview of Loran Hall, in which he says after his arrest in Dallas in 1968, he settled down to work for a "medical supplies company" in Southern California. This is code-speak for the fact that he never changed his occupation at all. As for Celio Castro -- the reports about him are unreliable simply because he was one of the paramilitary mercenaries supporting Interpen through Gerry Patrick Hemming (as Hall and Howard also did) and Hemming's policy was to feed disinformation about Interpen personnel and activities whenever possible. It probably wasn't William Seymour with Hall and Howard in Dallas after the Mexico City trip -- and it probably was Celio Castro, since he seemed to have some memory of the Motel site. Most interesting, Tommy, is your question about what they were doing before that Motel stay. Why would guys who had the job of running paramilitary supplies from Los Angeles to Miami on a continual basis stay anywhere for ten full days? Yes, we know that Loran Hall was also making speeches at local JBS meetings in Texas, and collecting more money and more supplies, as possible. Yes, they could have been waiting for rifle experts to refurbish the used weapons they collected during their travels. But the ten days that Larry Howard mentioned seems to be an attempt to cover over the trip of driving Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City! The Motel records do not verify his story! Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Question for Larry Hancock: After perusing SWHT/2010, and AWOG/2012, seeking your research on Edwin Walker, I didn't find it there. Where did you publish this? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Paul, Here it is: http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=1020151 --Tommy PS Regarding the Oldsmobile and the trailer, photographer Tom Dunkin wrote this in his1967 memorandum about the Interpen bust at No Name Key: "Hall and Seymour, with 1950-ish blue Oldsmobile and a rectangular, wooden, home-build two-wheel trailer appeared at Glades Country [Florida] Democrat Office on Thursday 24 October 1963. Hall at that time unknown to me." http://cuban-exile.com/doc_076-100/doc0090.html FWIW, I did a little "research" on e-bay, and it looks like the license plate was from Florida circa 1960. Tommy, nice work. We have documented evidence that Loran Hall was in Dallas again on 28 September 1963, with two others. Who were they? We don't know, but the Motel clerk thought they were Americans -- or perhaps the Latino-looking one was Larry Howard (a Mexican-American) and Loran Hall was one of the American-looking ones. It depends on the eye of the beholder. The pieces can still fit. Hall and Howard could have been with Lee Harvey Oswald at the doorstep of Silvia Odio on 25 September 1963, drove down to Mexico that same night (using money they got from Gabaldon some days earlier, when they got their paramilitary supplies). Their trailer load of supplies from Harry Dean and Guy Gabladon was not with them at that time (otherwise Silvia Odio would have noticed it). Probably it was with Lester Logue or Robert Morris in Dallas, or with some other JBS member. After dropping Oswald off at DACA in Mexico City late on 26 September 1963 (or early on 27 September 1963) they drove back to Dallas, and picked up WIlliam Seymour, as well as their trailer load of paramilitary supplies. Then, on 28 September 1963, they rented these Motel rooms. It was definitely Loran Hall, because of the address he gave them (Monterey Park, California) as well as the phone calls that he made (including to Lester Logue and Robert Morris in Dallas). We have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Robert Morris (who was one of Edwin Walker's lawyers, helping to sue US newspapers for libel against Walker -- for telling the truth about Walker during the riots at Ole Miss on 30 September 1962). We also have ample outside evidence linking Loran Hall with Lester Logue. So -- not only do we have Loran Hall and Larry Howard definitely on the road together in Dallas during the final week of September 1963, the times still fit for us to postulate their interaction with Lee Harvey Oswald that week, in a side-trip to Mexico City. They evidently left Oswald in Mexico, as Oswald took Bus #232 back to the USA at 8:30 am on 2 October 1963. Nice work, Tommy. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

The memoirs of Harry Dean are part and parcel of the larger legacy of JFK research, the Silvia Odio story. This is because Harry Dean has reason to suspect that "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" were really Loran Hall and Larry Howard. "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" were two supposedly Cuban Exiles that appeared on Silvia Odio's doorstep with Lee Harvey Oswald during the final week of September 1963, in the context of killing JFK because of the Bay of Pigs. Sylvia Meagher, a legacy researcher, in 1965 called this incident, "the proof of the plot." Gaeton Fonzi, active in the Warren Commission, the Church Committee and the HSCA, agreed with Sylvia Meagher. For Fonzi, aside from the holes in the single-bullet theory, the other substantiation of a JFK conspiracy came from validating Sylvia Odio's report that Oswald, or someone who resembled him (it mattered little which) appeared at her door in Dallas with two associates, one of whom would link Oswald to the notion of a JFK murder. Whether it was really Oswald or not, said Fonzi, "that was a deliberate act of connecting Oswald to the assassination before the assassination." Beyond all the other conspiracy evidence (the acoustics, the autopsy, the bullet trajectory, and Oswald's associations), says Fonzi, "the Odio incident absolutely cries conspiracy." Gaeton Fonzi would promptly declare the murder of JFK to be a conspiracy based soley on Sylvia Odio's consistently credible testimony. Fonzi also claims that his investigation proved every aspect of her testimony to be true. However, this still left researchers scratching their heads about the actual identity of "Leopoldo" and "Angelo". This is where the memoirs of Harry Dean become relevant again. Let's look at some of the remarkable coincidences that Harry Dean has raised from the very start. Harry Dean claims that: 1. In early September, 1963, Loran Hall and Larry Howard received instructions from Guy Gabaldon (an active speaker for the Southern California JBS) to escort Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City during the final week of September, 1963; 2. Loran Hall, the leader, was also an active speaker for the JBS from coast to coast, raising funds and supplies for paramilitary camps from New Orleans to Miami; 3. Loran Hall was something of an amoral character, who lived for revenge over Fidel Castro and would subordinate anything and anyone to that cause; 4. Larry Howard was something of a quiet follower; patriotic, brave and paramilitary, but not a leader. 5. Loran Hall was a Cuban-American, born in Newton Kansas, and his war name was "Lorenzo Pascillo"; 6. Larry Howard was a Mexican-American, born in El Monte California, and his war name was "Alonzo Escruido"; 7. Loran Hall and Larry Howard idolized Guy Gabaldon, who was a Mexican-American, born in East Los Angeles, and a famous war-hero. (The 1960 movie, Hell to Eternity, is Gabaldon's life story). 8. Guy Gabaldon was an extreme right-winger who wrote a book entitled, America Betrayed, which largely followed the JBS propaganda claiming that post-WW2 US Presidents, including Eisenhower and JFK, had become secret supporters of Communism. 9. Guy Gabaldon said in his book that he wanted nothing more than to personally eliminate Fidel Castro and take Cuba back for the free Cubans, but JFK and RFK "and the homosexuals of the Washington DC State Department" stood in his way. 10. Harry Dean and Guy Gabaldon would collect paramilitary supplies and medicines donated by well-to-do members of the JBS (mostly doctors, dentists and lawyers) and store them in their home garages, until needed by Hall and Howard for their many trips between Miami and Los Angeles. 11. Guy Gabaldon was the ring-leader of this sub-plot organized by JBS members in Southern California along with Ex-General Edwin Walker, Senator John Rousselot -- and Harry Dean. 12. During the final week of September, 1963, Hall and Howard retrieved Lee Harvey Oswald from New Orleans and drove him to Mexico City to meet Guy Gabaldon there. This is what Harry Dean affirms, having been present at the meetings in which this was specifically planned. 13. Nothing was said about Silvia Odio in those meetings. 14. Later, when reading about the Odio incident in materials related to the Warren Commission, Harry Dean surmised the following: 14.1. Sylvia Odio could barely remember the exact date, but she knew it was the final week of September because she was packing to be settled in a new apartment by October 1st. (The hour was about 8:30 pm). 14.2. This was the same week that Hall and Howard would be driving Lee Harvey Oswald. 14.3. Silvia Odio could barely remember the war names of the Latino visitors (which were the only names they gave her). She likely recalled that one name started with an "L" and the other started with an "A" and they both ended with an "o". She concluded that the first name was probably "Leopoldo" and the other name was probably "Angelo". 14.4. Silvia Odio described "Leopoldo" as a Cuban, tall, slim, with curly dark hair, thinning at the temples, who was clearly Cuban -- at least partly. (All this was also true of Loran Hall.) 14.5. Silvia Odio described "Angelo" as a Mexican-American, shorter, stockier, with shiny black hair all over his body, who spoke very little. (All this was also true of Larry Howard.) 14.6. "Leopoldo" introduced the American to her as "Leon Oswald." and she shook his hand and heard his voice offer greetings in a very broken Spanish. (Leon is the common Spanish name for the English name, "Lee". His Spanish was rudimentary.) 14.7. "Leopoldo" explained that they had just come from New Orleans, and had to leave Dallas very soon -- i.e. they were only passing through. 14.8. "Leopoldo" told her a story that was clearly a lie -- that they were members of JURE, and that he had known her father in a Cuban jail cell. 14.9. Silvia Odio did not let them into her house, but kept them outside of her door, in the brightly lighted hallway, for 20 minutes as Silvia continued to deny them support, or even a promise of support. 15. Harry Dean feels confident that she saw Loran Hall and Larry Howard (probably on 25 Sep 1963) and that the actual war names that she could not easily remember were probably, "Lorenzo" and "Alonzo". 16. Harry Dean feels confident that Loran Hall was trying to get money from her -- because he never had enough money -- and lying had become easy for him. 17. Hary Dean feels confident that Loran Hall and Larry Howard drove Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City to meet Guy Gabaldon in a couple of days. (Mexico City is basically a 20 hour drive, directly South from Dallas). 18. On the 27th of September, Lee Harvey Oswald was in Mexico City, being turned down for a Visa to Cuba -- of which we have evidence. 19. What else Lee Harvey Oswald did in Mexico City, experts do not know -- there are many disagreements. 20. Harry Dean proposes that Hall and Howard, having driven Lee Harvey Oswald to Mexico City (as evidenced by Silvia Odio's accurate description of them) completed their mission and delivered Oswald to Guy Gabaldon, at the headquarters of DACA (Drive Against Communist Aggression). Insofar as the Odio Incident is one of the linchpins of any well-rounded JFK Conspiracy scenario, it is more than a coincidence, IMHO, that the memoirs of Harry Dean harmonize so well with it. Best regards, --Paul Trejo <edit typos>

Tommy, as I recall, Silvia Odio told the Warren Commission that Leopoldo was "tall and slim" but told Gaeton Fonzi that he was muscular and handsome. She thought Leopoldo started acting "fresh" and came on to her during his telephone conversation the subsequent afternoon. As for the room and board of the traveling trio, if you find solid evidence, that would be pleasantly surprising. Oswald is reported at the Mexico City Cuban Embassy on September 27th. If that was Oswald, it is possible that Oswald was at the doorstep of Silvia Odio on September 25th, presuming he was being driven to Mexico in a car. It is also possible that Leopoldo and Angelo left Oswald in Mexico City after their chore was done; according to Harry Dean, their chore was to deliver Lee Harvey Oswald to Guy Gabaldon at DACA headquarters in Mexico City. If so, then it is also possible that Leopoldo and Angel were back in Dallas on September 28. The notion that they lived in their car is not out of the question -- they were always short of funds. One possible reason for visiting Silvia Odio was to try to get money from her. She said they looked scruffy, unshaven and unwashed. So, it's not impossible. By the way, Gaeton Fonzi says that even if it wasn't Oswald at her doorstep -- even if it was a lookalike using the name of Leon Oswald, it STILL is evidence of a conspiracy to at least FRAME Oswald in connection with the JFK murder. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

James, I realize this is ten years after -- but I'm interested in the "dozens" of photographs you have of Loran Hall (alias Lorenzo Pascillo). Are you able to upload them to the Forum these days? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

OK, this is interesting. If Loran Hall was an FBI informant -- which I consider possible on some level -- this is a plausible explanation for how the FBI came to pick up Loran Hall so quickly. The FBI had questioned Sylvia Odio on 22 July 1964 about the two Latinos she saw with Lee Harvey Oswald at her doorstep one evening during the final week of September, 1963. Odio could not identify a photograph of any suspect the FBI showed her, and she did not know their names. She did give a description; late 20's, 5'11'', athletic build, dark curly hair, but thinning at the temples. Yes, Loran Hall fit that -- but that description could have fit hundreds of Cuban Exiles. I'd guessed that Loran Hall was an FBI suspect in the JFK murder somehow -- and I'm still not discounting that. But this new theory is plausible and should be affirmed or eliminated. I mean -- even Lee Harvey Oswald was a low level source of data for the FBI (according to Dallas DA Henry Wade and Attorney General Waggoner Carr, which might explain why Oswald recieved small amounts of cash from Western Union every so often). Descriptions of Loran Hall (e.g. from Harry Dean) say that he was usually hard up for money (like Oswald). So it's likely he would have sold information to the FBI if he had it -- after all the FBI were the good guys. Hall moved in Cuban Exile circles, including paramilitary groups, and there was a time when the FBI was asked to shut down some of their camps and collect data about them. (Lee Harvey Oswald might also have been selling this same sort of data to FBI agents for petty cash). So, in this plausible scenario -- the FBI was searching for "Leopoldo" and "Angelo" based on Sylvia Odio's testimony. They happened to ask Loran Hall, one of their known information sources -- and out of the blue Loran Hall confessed that it was himself and Larry Howard at her doorstep -- but not Lee Harvey Oswald. That is possible -- it explains the quick turnaround. But it doesn't explain the confession itself, does it? I mean, why put himself and his friends at risk? It sounds as if Loran Hall was caught by surprise by this line of questioning. What do you think? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Well, Larry Hancock opined that Loran Hall told the FBI he was "Leopoldo" to enhance his own reputation -- and that he was merely a braggart, and would switch stories at will. Yet that would not explain why the FBI contacted Hall out of the blue, when Silvia Odio herself did not know who "Leopoldo" was. Also, why would Loran Hall respond to interrogation by the FBI and identify not only himself but also Larry Howard and William Seymour as the men at Silvia Odio's door? Was he trying to "enhance their reputation?" It sounds more like he was trying to hide a dangerous fact -- that he had been seen with Lee Harvey Oswald -- which was a serious blunder on his part -- a blunder that could have cost him his life. (He was counting on their confirmation -- but they both turned on him.) As for Hall's wild claims upon his 1987 methedrine drug trafficking arrest -- there was evidently some truth in the lies -- the drug trade was indeed a source of arms for Latin American "Freedom Fighters" by Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986. Loran Hall evidently knew a few government secrets -- though at best as a street-level asset or liability. So -- the 'bragging' explanation is not a strong one, IMHO -- because the "Leopoldo" incident was a response to a real risk -- and it endangered his friends. It is more likely that Loran Hall was trying to wiggle out of something. As for Hall's fickle friends -- they went into military combat alongside him. They fought side by side. There was some honor in the early days -- yet when the Cuban cause was increasingly recognized as lost, lost, lost, Loran Hall and the Cuban Freedom Fighters began to wear down, turn to drugs and bar room violence, and eventually turned on each other. Hemming and Hall were friends at first, inside Interpen, but Hall wanted to be the leader of his own Cuba Raid Team. So there was also competition. Hemming sought funds from Ex-General Walker, who had won $3 million dollars in libel lawsuits (pending appeals) from US newspapers that told the truth about Walker at the Ole Miss riots. Walker had been promising various Cuban Raid Teams money when his ship came in. As I read it, Loran Hall tried to by-pass Gerry Hemming to pursue Walker for cash on his own. This caused friction between Hemming and Hall that never healed. Also, David, the Garrison case was not until 1968, and the "Leopoldo" confession of Loran Hall was in 1964 during the Silvia Odio hearings of the Warren Commision. So there was no connection there. Also, Tommy, why would Hall tell the FBI "what he thought they wanted to hear" during the peak of the Warren Commission when they were seeking accomplices of Lee Harvey Oswald? Would he step up to say that he knows it was not Lee Harvey Oswald that Silvia Odio saw, although it really was Larry Howard and himself that she saw? It hardly makes sense. When William Seymour told the FBI that Loran Hall was a xxxx -- and then Larry Howard told the FBI that Loran Hall was a xxxx -- only then did Loran Hall tell the FBI that he was "mistaken" and that he never saw Silvia Odio before in his life. (He was probably threatened with death by Seymour and Howard -- as they both told the FBI Hall was a xxxx, and they both resented being named in this investigation about Lee Harvey Oswald -- a very dangerous affair.) Finally, Tommy, I think your question is extremely interesting -- about Hemming's 30.06 rifle found almost immediately after the JFK murder -- and they found the fingerprints of Richard Hathcock / Roy Payne upon it, and they interviewed them both on 11/23/63. Larry Hancock's guess that Gerry Patrick Hemming himself went to the FBI about his rifle on the very day of the assassination merely to make trouble for Loran Hall, seems hard to believe. However, if it's true, then it suggests that Gerry Hemming was so deeply involved in the JFK assassination that he tried to make Loran Hall into the patsy. (Or, it suggests that Hemming was so deeply involved that he wanted to cast suspicion away from himself -- which would backfire since it would also make him a suspect for having so much information on the very same day.) Actually, the story that Gerry Patrick Hemming told this Forum back in 2007 is far easier to believe -- that Loran Hall (who was almost certainly in Dallas on 11/22/1963) was so deeply involved in the JFK assassination, particularly in the managing of the patsy, that one of his backup plans was to put the blame on Gerry Patrick Hemming by having Hemming's rifle at the scene of the crime. I'm trying to remember the source who said that not one, not two, but three rifles were found inside the TSBD that afternoon. Tommy's reply -- that A.J. Weberman's account agrees with the account by Gerry Patrick Hemming is further confirmation. It places Loran Hall in Dallas and deep within the "patsy" side of the plot. It also places this "Leopoldo" (i.e. Loran Hall) in contact with Ex-General Walker during the autumn of 1963. The pieces just fit like a glove, IMHO. Like Tommy, I'm also interested in the finer details about how the FBI came to obtain the rifle of Gerry Patrick Hemming by 11/23/1963. Best regards, --Paul Trejo <edit typos>

Larry, granting that Loran Hall would like under oath -- I see no evidence of him being so inane as to step up to the FBI and claim to be "Leopoldo" for no reason at all. Why would he ever confess to that? Granting that Loran Hall would tell any lie to keep himself or his friends out of trouble, why would he put himself and his friends at risk by admitting to be at Sylvia Odio's doorstep on the night she claimed she saw Lee Harvey Oswald at her door with two Latinos? Do you have an opinion about that? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Well, Larry, I realize that we must begin speculating at some point, simply because the FBI and CIA continue to withhold files on Lee Harvey Oswald that would crack this murder case wide open. The abiding reason for this secrecy remains at it was in 1963 -- National Security. Question Number One has always been -- if Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin, then where is the question of National Security? Fifty years later these FBI and CIA files are still Top Secret. So, we have no choice but presume that the US Government still believes that secrecy about Lee Harvey Oswald remains a matter of National Security. We also have no choice but to speculate about the mystery of Lee Harvey Oswald. Gaeton Fonzi delved deeply into the Odio Incident, and he found Silvia Odio to be "eminently believable." She's very intelligent, very astute, honest and open. She was burned by the Warren Commission, but she eventually opened up to the HSCA. She didn't change her story at all. It was Lee Harvey Oswald, she insisted, whom she saw at her doorstep for 20 minutes, only a few feet away. It was after 7pm, but the lighting in the hallway outside her apartment door was very bright. Oswald spoke to her; she heard his voice and also made that match. Further, she told her psychiatrist about the incident even before the JFK assassination. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Einspruch, confirmed the story about "Leopoldo, Leon and another Latino name, perhaps 'Angelo'". Leopoldo did most of the talking. He was bi-lingual. He was good-looking. He looked Cuban. 'Angelo' was darker, with ruddy skin, shiny black hair, heavier, and appeared to be Mexican rather than Cuban. Silvia Odio claimed she never saw these men before in her life. They claimed to be associated with JURE, but since she herself was active in JURE, she suspected they were lying because she didn't recognize them. (It turns out that they were lying.) As for a "doubles" theory, it can be a distraction, IMHO. For example, Lee Harvey Oswald actually was looking for a job along Main Street during that time period. Also, the "Oswald" who took his rifle to a gun dealer to have a scope attached was never identified as "Lee Harvey", but only "Oswald," and the gun dealer could not remember his face or anything about his appearance. There must have been many men surnamed Oswald in Dallas. Finally, the rifle that Oswald purchased over the mail already had a scope attached. We need not belabor that "Oswald" any further, IMHO. Gaeton Fonzi is a tough researcher. He examined Silvia Odio thoroughly. He believed her. What is most telling about the scenario, IMHO, is that the FBI picked up Loran Hall shortly after they began questioning Silvia Odio. This fact leaves me asking, Why? Why? Why? Silvia Odio could not identify Loran Hall from any photographs -- she didn't know his real name. Yet the FBI promptly picked up Loran Hall. SECONDLY -- Loran Hall confessed! He admitted that he was at the door of Silvia Odio during the last week of September 1963, and that he did have two companions with him -- one of whom was Larry Howard. This is the most pressing fact of the whole incident, IMHO -- Loran Hall actually confessed to being at her doorstep. Yes, we know that Loran Hall was a slippery xxxx, yet his lie was predictable -- he and Larry were there, but the American with them was not Lee Harvey Oswald, but William Seymour, he claimed. Loran Hall -- probably stunned by the sudden appearance of the FBI at his door, evidently assumed that William Seymour would back up his story, but William Seymour had no intention of backing up Loran Hall's story. Loran Hall was on his own to explain his lie about William Seymour. It is this aspect of the story that intrigued Gaeton Fonzi -- and still intrigues me to this very day. Finally - the two Cubans in NOLA identified by Martino dropped out of the picture in Dallas, yet we have information that Loran Hall was in Dallas on the day JFK was murdered. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, thanks for continuing the discourse -- I'm genuinely interested in your research. For the sake of argument I'll follow your line of reasoning. Because John Martino and Richard Case Nagell (both reliable sources) apparently agree that two Cuban Exiles from Miami -- both double agents -- were interested in Lee Harvey Oswald as a possible patsy for a Washington DC plot to murder JFK, this becomes a viable postulate. All right -- so it seems you raise the possibility that Lee Harvey Oswald actually did meet Silvia Odio at her doorstep for a full 20 minutes (as she testified under oath) only in your theory, instead of Loran Hall and Larry Howard, you're suggesting that Leopoldo and Angel were these two Cuban Exiles who worked closely with Antonio Veciana of Alpha 66 -- is that right? We have Veciania's taped interview in which he links himself with Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas along with CIA agent, David Atlee Phillips (alias Maurice Bishop). So, this adds more tangible evidence to your claim. Is this then your proposal -- that the two Cuban Exiles, both double-agents, identified by Martino and Nagell, were the "real" Leopolo and Angel? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Well, Larry, the FBI has proved to be unreliable on the topic of Loran Hall. Therefore -- how do we know that the photos that the FBI showed Silvia Odio were really Loran Hall and Larry Howard? Further, we might also speculate -- Loran Hall reversed his story to the FBI about visiting Odio (a fact that Hoover withheld from the Warren Commission). But why did reverse his story? To the National Enquirer Loran Hall said he barely escaped two attempts on his life over the Odio incident. Harry Dean says that Larry Howard threatened to kill Loran Hall. Perhaps William Seymour did, also. So, these were violent sorts of men. Remember, too, that Loran Hall called Silvia Odio at her home the weekend after their (alleged) visit to her doorstep. He spoke in that phone call (she said) about killing JFK. This was frightening to her. Now -- with that background -- presuming that the FBI showed Silvia Odio the correct photos of Loran Hall and Larry Howard -- is it unlikely that days before that, Loran Hall and/or Larry Howard called Odio on the telephone AGAIN and threatened to kill her if she identified them? One might hope that the FBI would provide protection for witnesses -- but Silvia Odio had already heard from her Warren Commission contacts that no matter what she testified, the Warren Commission's conclusions were already settled, and her testimony would make no difference at all. (I believe she reported that Rankin said that.) The Warren Commission did report that Silvia Odio was mistaken about Lee Harvey Oswald being at her doorstep during the final week of September 1963, and that she was "under psychiatric care." So, she was a hysterical xxxx. Given this level of support -- would she rely on the FBI to give her protection from Loran Hall and/or Larry Howard? I grant you that Loran Hall lied very easily -- but it was generally to protect himself and his friends that he lied -- he was put on the spot and he lied to wiggle out. That's how I see it. The problem of Hall and Howard and the Odio visit remained an open question to Gaeton Fonzi -- and he found Odio eminently believable. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Well, Larry, I'm sorry to see you leave this thread, because I think that there are points you haven't addressed yet. You ask me to come up with new data on individuals involved in the Dallas attack on JFK, and I've provided never-before-seen documents from Edwin Walker's personal papers. You suggest I put it in a new thread, yet in past years I've engaged in several threads -- and the reason I stay with the Harry Dean Memoirs thread is that it ties all the other threads together. Walker, Hall, Hemming, the far right-wing, the JBS, the DPD, Lee Harvey Oswald in NOLA, the role of George DeMohrenschildt, Guy Bannister, Ed Butler, Carlos Bringuier the Cuban Exiles, and so on. You say you don't find the Walker theory viable, and yet you drew your conclusions about Edwin Walker six years ago, before Walker's personal papers were publicized. You say Walker would be "totally unnecessary" and that he had "no operational credibility or trusted connections" for a "Dallas Intelligence Network," and yet you postulate Jack Ruby in that role! Did Jack Ruby have "operational credibility"? It still seems to me -- after reading SWHT/2010 -- that you deal with the Dallas ground-crew in a cursory manner -- you stick Jack Ruby in there as a place holder, and he somehow stands for all the "operational credibility" or "trusted connections" in Dallas that your theory needs. IMHO, John Martino, who is your shibboleth (just as Harry Dean is my shibboleth), had less visibility into the Dallas ground-crew than any other factor. I agree that you have strong information up to Dallas -- but that is the point where I believe your theory falls short -- that is, you rely too much on Jack Ruby to stand in for the Dallas ground-crew. It isn't enough. Also, you say that "picking out the Plaza was certainly not a challenge." In hind-sight that may seem correct, but this is far from a given. You say, "all you need to know is the general route." Yet in fact the turn on Houston and Elm was not part of the original motorcade route! It was an afterthought. The lead car driver in the motorcade (who was Chief Curry himself, as I recall) is suspicious, especially if he had anything to do with the last-minute changes to turn right on Houston and take that hairpin left turn on Elm street. John Martino is indeed a great find and a great source of data. Most of the pieces fit. Yet without Edwin Walker and his large Dallas-based contingent of The Friends of Walker, it still seems to me that John Martino's information still remains incomplete. For example, the two Cubans who tracked Oswald all the way to Mexico just drop out of the picture at that point! I propose that John Martino fails to illuminate the "Dallas Intelligence Network." Best regards, --Paul Trejo <edit typos>

Paul Trejo wrote: 4.3) [...] The fact that DPD Chief Jesse Curry was actually driving the lead car which led the JFK motorcade down Elm Street, and immediately named the TSBD alone as the shooting site, makes him into a major suspect, IMHO. Uhhh, that's not true, Paul. Where in the world did you come up with that ? Police tapes from that day show that Chief Curry, right after radioing in "Approaching Triple Underpass", immediately said, "Go to the hospital - Parkland Hospital. Have them stand by." And then, Paul, the very next thing he said was, "Get a man on top of that triple underpass and see what happened up there." He doesn't say anything about the TSBD, Paul... A few seconds later Sheriff Decker says, "Have my office move all available men out of my office into the railway yard to try to determine what happened in there and to hold everything secure until Homicide and other investigators should get there." Now, regarding who did say anything about the TSBD over the police radio: 1) At 12:35 Patrolman C. A. Haygood radioed in, "I just talked to a guy up here who was standing close to it and the best he could tell it came from the Texas School Book Depository Building here with that Hertz renting sign on top." Chief Curry still hasn't said anything about the TSBD.... 2) Then at 12:36 Sergeant D. V. Harkness radioed, "I have a witness that says that it came from the fifth floor of the Texas Book Depository Store." Chief Curry still hasn't said anything about the TSBD.... 3) At 12:37 Patrolman L.L. Hill radioed, "Get some men up here to cover this school depository building. It's believed the shot came from, as you see it on Elm Street, it would be upper right hand corner, second window from the end." (Apparently Hill was with James Tague and possibly Bill Newman when he radioed in because he said, "I have one guy that was possibly hit by a richochet from the bullet off the concrete and another one saw the President slump.") 4) Also at 12:37 Patrolman E.D. Brewer, apparently with Patrolman L.L. Hill, radioed that he was about "three quarters of a block from" the TSBD and also said, "We have a man here who says he saw him pull the weapon back through the window off of the second floor from the southeast corner of that depository building." The dispatcher asked him if the TSBD was "covered off" yet and when told that it wasn't, told Brewer (and Hill?) to "pull on down there." 5) Also at 12:37 Assistant Chief of Police Charles Batchelor pipes in with this disjointed radio communication, "Can you give us any information as to what happened for these people out here, evidently they had - seriousness of it - the President involved - 1 is at Parkland, along with Dallas 1. We have word it is unknown - Texas Depository Store, corner of Elm and Field - officers are now surrounding and searching the building. (Garbled)" But Chief Curry still hasn't said a word about the TSBD.... 6) At 12:42 Police Inspector J.H. Sawyer gets his two cents in, "We need some more men down at the Texas School Book Depository. We should have some on Main if we could get someone to pick up and bring them down here." At 12:44 Inspector Sawyer reports over the radio, "The type of weapon looked like a 30-30 rifle or some type of Winchester" and, when asked to describe the clothing the shooter was wearing, relays this problematic description (from a mysterious, still-unknown "witness"): "About 30, 5'10", 165 pounds." 7) At which point (12:45) the dispatcher broadcasts this infamous statement, "Attention all squads, the suspect in the shooting at Elm and Houston is supposed to be an unknown white male, approximately 30, 165 pounds, slender build, armed with what is thought to be a 30-30 rifle, - repeat, unknown white male, approximately 30, 165 pounds, slender build. No further description at this time or information, 12:45 p.m." Captain C.E. Talbert then asks Sawyer, through the dispatcher, if the suspect was still in the building, and Sawyer replies, "On this building, it's unknown whether he is still in the building or not known if he was there in the first place." 8) Interestingly, Sergeant G.D. Henslee then pipes up and says, "Well, all the information we have received, 9 [inspector Sawyer], indicates that it did come from about the 5th or 4th floor of that building [the TSBD]. And, still, Chief Curry hasn't said a word about the TSBD, Paul...... http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/ --Tommy P.S. As far as Chief Curry's possible complicity in the plot against JFK, I would say that his actions are the least suspicious of all of the Dallas upper-level police officers. Tommy, this was a good question, so I checked my source, Joachim Joesten. Usually he uses solid documentation. Joesten's source for his claim is the New York Times. At his 23 November 1963 press conference, Chief Curry gave the press the following information: “Moments after the fatal shot was fired at JFK at 12:30PM yesterday, Chief Curry said, he radioed instructions that the TSBD building be surrounded and searched...The chief was riding in a car 40 feet ahead of the limousine carrying Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy...Chief Curry said he could tell from the sound of the three shots that they had come from the book company’s building...” (New York Times, Nov. 24) So, it seems my source remains fairly sturdy. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, I detect that the door is still not slammed shut for my Edwin Walker theory. First, you acknowledge the direct participation of at least one DPD officer -- and one other DPD officer who covered for him (e.g. refused to disclose his name). Secondly, you continue to suggest that Jack Ruby fully fit the bill for a street-level asset who could fill in all the needed information of a "Dallas Intelligence Network". We have evidence, for example, that Ruby probably drove some of the shooters to the murder site that morning. We know that he had loose connections with DPD officers through his striptease club. This is indeed a lower level -- yet it is too low. It is not conducive, IMHO, to the sort of "Dallas Intelligence Network" that Rip Robertson would find indispensible. Rather, a meticulous planner like Rip Robertson would want somebody who knew the Dallas terrain so well that he could identify an ideal ambush environment, right? Look again at Dealey Plaza. As former CIA agent Gary Shaw noted, it is a "dream" of an ambush environment. One has to make narrow turns, thus slowing down the target; also there is a dip, a bowl shaped target-zone; also it's surrounded by tall buildings; also it has the benefit of a concealed area behind the picket fence of the Grassy Knoll. It is a "dream" site for triangulation crossfire. Who would be better qualified to identify this ideal ambush environment -- the owner of a striptease club, or a former US General with special operations training? My point is that to stop with Jack Ruby as the epitome of the "Dallas Inteligence Network" seems to me to be abstract. It does not offer enough details to explain the uncounted nuances of activities and planning that had to go into -- let's face it -- the intelligence behind the murder of JFK. It's easier for me to place Edwin Walker at the head of a "Dallas Intelligence Network," than to place the street-level, mobster contributions of Jack Ruby in that role. It is relevant, IMHO, that when questioned by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren in 1964, Jack Ruby himself said, "There is an organization here, Chief Justice Warren, if it takes my life at this moment to say it, there is a John Birch Society right now in activity, and Edwin Walker is one of the top men in this organization." Best regards, --Paul Trejo <edit typos>

Larry, thanks for your clarification about Jack Ruby. I think I've clarified that I'm not comparing Walker with Rip Robertson. My only question is that if Robertson wanted Dallas intelligence -- and if he had a choice between mobster Jack Ruby and former General Edwin Walker, who would he choose? I can be convinced that Walker wasn't involved -- if somebody shows conclusively that people unconnected with Walker fully comprised the ground-crew, then I'll fold my hand. (That means, of course, that the DRE cannot be involved -- or Loran Hall, or Gerry Patrick Hemming.) Yet Walker was involved in New Orleans, in Miami, and in the company of rightist fanatics like Joseph Milteer in Georgia. One cannot just dismiss the right-wing and make the JFK murder into an entirely CIA-Mafia plot, because the right-wing insisted on a front-row seat (e.g. Milteer was in Dealey Plaza that day). I realize you're not trying to convince me of the innocence of Edwin Walker, Larry. I appreciate your feedback. I look forward to your further comments. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, I feel I should clarify some misunderstandings promptly. (1) I'm not equating Edwin Walker with a younger specialist in CIA Covert Action. However, if we are to make comparisons, Edwin Walker during World War II commanded a sub-unit of the Canadian-American First Special Service Force. Walker served in combat just about continually during World War II and the Korean War, and had special operations training. I doubt that Jack Ruby had similar qualifications. Even though there were some dirty cops who were in debt to Jack Ruby for this or that vice, that is a far cry from an honorable cop who believed in his politics strongly, who also admired and believed in the rightist politics of General Edwin Walker. Your argument seems to be that Jack Ruby could organize the Dallas operation. I doubt that Jack Ruby was competent to run a small grocery store, much less a paramilitary operation. So, I'm not comparing Edwin Walker with Rip Robertson -- I'm comparing Edwin Walker with Jack Ruby. Given a choice, would CIA professionals trust a lightweight like Jack Ruby over a former US General? (2) I'm certainly not painting the entire DPD with one brush. I believe most DPD officers had no idea what was going on that day. Yet there were some DPD officers -- and I won't call them "dirty," I'll call them ultra-rightist -- who believed it was patriotic to oppose JFK in any way possible. They wouldn't be bribed or blackmailed by Jack Ruby to participate -- they'd be motivated by their own politics. And since you raised the history of political assassination, I'll also raise the case of the attempted assassination of De Gaulle in 1962, because extreme right-wing policemen were also involved in that attempt, according to De Gaulle himself. (3) While others outside the DPD could rent that parking space behind the Grassy Knoll, it tended to be reserved for DPD officers, Sheriff Deputies, and other local government officials. I'm aware that no DPD officers were assigned to that area during the motorcade -- yet that says nothing about off-duty policemen. Also, there was little to prevent policemen from wearing their uniforms before or after a shift -- i.e. while they were off-duty. Furthermore, if an off-duty policeman was doing something illegal, what better cover could he hope for than to wear his uniform? (4) Finally, Larry, I'm not married to an Edwin Walker scenario in the JFK plot. If it's mistaken, I'd like to see that proved so that I can set it aside and move on. Yet the arguments I hear against it so far are unconvincing to ordinary logic. The evidence itself is underestimated, IMHO. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, I reviewed your END GAME chapter last night, and your summary above is fitting. I don't know if you'll agree today, but in your chapter, END GAME, you make a statement in which I believe I can insert the claims of Harry Dean regarding Edwin Walker and the JBS in Dallas. Here's your specific statement regarding the CIA-Mafia conspiracy that you are tracing: "What they did not have were two things: time and a Dallas intelligence network." (SWHT/2010, p. 299) I want to pursue this opening with the words of Jim Garrison in 1968, to the effect that the JFK murder conspiracy would never have gone forward without assurances of cooperation from high-level people in the Dallas Police Department. Your END GAME, Larry, tends to give the DPD a free pass by considering that the CIA-Mafia plot simply bamboozled them. Jim Garrison would not draw that conclusion, and neither would Penn Jones or his key witness, Deputy Sheriff Roger Craig. Roger Craig noted that the area behind the picket fence at the Grassy Knoll was always controlled by the DPD, because it was a DPD parking lot. There was only one gate of entrance/exit into that parking lot, which was controlled by a rented key. The public had no access back there in 1963. It's no accident that people (and cameras) saw uniformed DPD officers up on the Grassy Knoll when JFK was murdered. The question is, of course, how many Dallas players could be drafted into a plot to murder JFK. William Turner offers a quick answer -- the DPD in 1963 was composed of radical right-wingers. One could not join the DPD in those days, says Turner (Power on the Right, 1971) without being a member of the Minutemen, John Birch Society, KKK or some other right-wing organization, e.g. the Friends of Walker. Would it be difficult to find voluunteers from the DPD to join a JFK murder plot from among these types? Insofar as the CIA-Mafia plot that you outline needed a "Dallas intelligence network" very quickly, then the rightist paramilitary people who actually lived in Dallas would stand up front and center. Here's where Ex-General Edwin Walker comes in. (And here's where Harry Dean's memoirs can fit in.) So, I'd propose a couple of tweaks to your scenario, Larry -- starting with that "Dallas intelligence network." I'd insert Edwin Walker precisely at that point. I'd enlist DPD officers Roscoe White and/or JD Tippit on the ground at the Grassy Knoll (as "badge man"). Other off-duty DPD officers, members of the KKK, would also be on hand up there. Wes Swearingen adds a notation to his CIA-Mafia plot as well -- that in Dallas at the time of the JFK murder in Dealey Plaza, there was a military man on leave taking movies of JFK passing by and being murdered. He hit the ground after the shots rang out. When he looked up, there were two DPD officers standing above him, demanding his film. They ripped it up and walked away. In conclusion, Larry, I'd ask how you might conclude that Jack Ruby had paramilitary organizational skills that Ex-General Edwin Walker, with 30 years US Army experience, somehow lacked. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

On this point, Larry, I agree wholeheartedly. As the old saying goes, "there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip." The gap between the plan and the execution would be widest at the ground-level -- in Dallas itself. Was JD Tippit supposed to die that very day? Wasn't Lee Harvey Oswald himself supposed to die that very day? It seems that in many Dallas avenues there was improvisation and flying by the seat of one's pants. Look at all the witnesses who bit the dust -- including Lee Bowers, who was so close to the picket fence action. The organization had to be enormous. Surely a disgruntled US General would have been invaluable in such planning. The main question I have today is whether General Lansdale or Ex-General Walker was closer to the the planning in Dallas itself. It is not generally appreciated that Ex-General Walker carefully planned the attack on Adlai Stevenson in Dallas only one month before JFK's trip to Dallas. The Dallas press writers knew this very well, and there are plenty of stories in the Dallas press about it. Walker was out of town during the actual attack (so he wasn't arrested) but he carefully organized his "troops" the night before in the same auditorium (with his own US Day in conmpetition with Adlai's UN Day). Walker and his "Friends of Walker" and "JBS" followers booby-trapped the auditorium itself -- which is a little-known fact, confirmed by Larrie Schmidt himself. Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, many thanks for your comments. I will review the END GAME chapter of your SWHT/2010 book and add remarks here. Your SWHT/2010 is in my Top 5 list of JFK research books -- up there with Gaeton Fonzi's Last Investigation. I agree with most of what you say -- and my only key difference is to propose that Edwin Walker is being underestimated as a key player in the Dallas ground-crew. (Naturally this is where Harry Dean's memoirs could become useful to the pursuit of American history.) As for the fact that we have few commenters here today, that is secondary, compared with the fact that we've expanded from 62,500 hits to 72,500 hits on this thread in the past six months. We have few commenters but many readers, evidently. Thanks again, --Paul Trejo

According to my notes on your book, NEXUS, Larry, you remain at a high level of analysis -- that is, the ground-crew in Dallas remains fairly abstract, and your handling of Lee Harvey Oswald in NEXUS remains at an abstract level. In many ways your findings harmonize with the findings of former FBI Agent Wesley Swearingen -- so that is a strong confirmation at the high level. Still, my issue with Wesley Swearingen is precisely that he does not descend to the street-level, and he obviously neglects the Dallas ground-crew and its fine-tuned details. What am I missing, do you suppose? Best regards, --Paul Trejo

Larry, I find it interesting that your theory maintains that the "Lone Assassin" theme worked to undermine the rightist hopes and dreams to invade Cuba and assassinate Fidel Castro. Of course that strategy had to be developed "at the highest levels of government," including LBJ, Allen Dulles, J. Edgar Hoover and Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren. No matter what evidence the FBI uncovered about this massive and well-organized plot to murder JFK, the easiest way to control the public backlash would be to blame Lee Harvey Oswald alone. Insofar as Fletcher Prouty (Mr. X) has already named General Edward Lansdale (General Y) as a key conspirator in the JFK murder plot in Dallas, this suggests a rupture inside Washington DC -- a rupture that would be decided against the right-wing. Ever since Senator Joseph McCarthy and his famous era of McCarthyism -- claming that Communists had overrun the State Department and even the White House -- there have been radical right-wingers in Washington, in the Pentagon and the CIA, arguing for a right-wing tyranny as a response. The John Birch Society made a lot of hay on this ideological apex of the Cold War. Insofar as the rightists influenced Ex-General Edwin Walker -- and they also influenced powerful men like H.L. Hunt and Clint Murchison -- perhaps they also influenced General Edward Lansdale. If so, it is ironic that the "highest levels of government" in Washington that would squash their fervent hope to invade Cuba to eliminate Fidel Castro and force Communism out of Cuba. If General Lansdale represented a rightist movement inside the Pentagon, we see from the actions of the Warren Commission that this hypothetical rightist movement was squashed by the "highest levels of government." If so, then we behold a division in Washington at the peak of the Cold War. This has interesting implications for American history. Best regards, --Paul Trejo